C236: Chance Encounter (3)
"Why are you here?"
"That's what I was going to say."
Casey Selmore stares at Rudger in disbelief since she didn't expect to meet Rudger in a place like this, but neither did Rudger.
"No way, did you follow me?"
At Casey's words, Rudger frowned.
"I think you're mistaking something, but it's me that came here first and was eating. If I had to argue, you are the one that followed me."
"Ha. Funny. Me? For what?"
Casey sighed and replied.
Selina, who was still listening to the conversation between the two, opened her mouth.
"Do you know her?"
There was a tension in her voice. Selina felt a sense of crisis the moment she saw Casey Selmore.
'An acquaintance of Mr. Rudger?'
Maybe it's just an acquaintance, but looking at him talking to her, they seemed to be quite close. If the two had heard it, they would have denied it, but that was how Selina felt.
In addition, Casey Selmore was a beauty.
Casey opened her eyes wide to see Selina's appearance.
'She was the teacher from back then, right?'
Selina may not remember, but Casey knew Selina. In fact, all Casey knew was that she was the teacher that Rudger saved from the burning warehouse on the last day of the festival.
However, as soon as she saw the two people meeting and eating like this, Casey thought so without realizing it.
"Date?"
"What?"
Selina reacted furiously to Casey's muttering. In fact, it was more of an exclamation of half joy.
"Don't be mistaken. I just ran into teacher Selina and we shared a meal together."
Then Rudger stepped up and corrected Casey's misunderstanding. Selina was sullen at the words, but Casey wondered on the contrary.
'Do you usually come to eat together because you ran into each other?'
This is a famous restaurant where reservations are hard to make, however Rudger's confident behavior meant he told the truth.
'No, you never know. Maybe this vicious man is trying to seduce an innocent female teacher and do something behind her back.'
Rudger felt Casey's disturbing gaze, but he didn't feel the need to correct that.
"I don't know what you're thinking, but if you came to eat, it would be nice to just eat quietly and go."
"What?"
"It was pure coincidence that we encountered each other in the first place. Nothing would change if we talk about it."
"What?" Above all, it is a nuisance to other customers. Are you going to make a lot of noise in public?"
Casey shut up at Rudger's blow and her clenched fist trembled.
Rudger's words were certainly irrefutable.
'It's really unfair. Am I supposed to hear this from James Moriarty?'
Would it feel like this when the criminal of the century scolds her for throwing trash on the street?
"Casey, sit down."
Betty, who came with her, also nagged Casey.
There were no allies here who stood by her.
The rational judgment was right to sit quietly however there was one problem.
'I don't want to listen to him!'
Casey knew in her head that it was enough to sit still, eat, and leave but her heart refused to listen. She felt like she would lose something if she listened to Rudger.
Normally, she wouldn't have done that, but when she was involved with Rudger, her rational judgment was blurred.
Even though she knew it, it was hard to extinguish her simmering sense of competition.
"He, he."
When Casey was worried about this and that, Betty, who couldn't watch, grabbed Casey's hand.
"Sit down."
As a special automaton, her strength is far higher than that of ordinary people and Casey was forced to sit down by Betty but she did not forget to stare at Rudger with a glare of frustration.
"I sat down because I wanted to sit down. I didn't sit down because you told me to sit down."
"……."
Who said that?
He didn't know what's wrong with her, but Rudger agreed and decided to move on. He had a hunch that if he didn't, he might be swept away by more troublesome things.
Betty frowned at Casey's behavior, but bowed to Rudger and Selina.
"I'm sorry. Casey is not very sociable, so I apologize for her."
"Who's bad at socializing?"
"Who do you think it is?"
Rudger ignored the two who started bickering and decided to focus on the meal.
His gaze stayed on Betty, who bowed to him for a moment, but it was only for a moment so no one noticed him.
"Hmph."
Casey ignored him and glanced discontentedly at Rudger eating his meal.
Meeting today was pure coincidence. There was nothing strange about dismissing it as an unexpected incident and moving over it.
She wanted to ignore it but she kept worrying about it since seeing Rudger eating with Selina made her feel sick. Her fingers kept tapping on the table because she felt stuffy inside.
Casey was mad because she was having a hard time, while Rudger was enjoying a date with a pretty female teacher.
'You don't deserve it.'
Why are you so nonchalant after all that?
Why are you so relaxed when you're still fighting the Black Dawn Society?
Now she couldn't tell whether Rudger's appearance was fake or real. To be honest, she didn't know.
Casey admitted for the first time that she didn't know anything and raised the white flag for the first time.
"Casey, what's wrong with your face?"
"What?"
"You keep groaning like a dog."
"Dog…? Why don't you just cool off if you want to swear?"
"Oh, my. When did I do that?"
'I think that's what you meant.'
Betty hurriedly excused herself as Casey opened her eyes and glanced helplessly.
"More than that, I'm worried about Casey. Of course, Casey's usual behavior is so extraordinary that it's comfortable for me to stay still."
"You talk like a mother who brought out a child who doesn't listen to her."
"But Casey's doing well……."
"Is that so?"
"I'm starting to feel anxious that something bigger might explode."
"……."
A tendon sprang up over Casey's forehead.
Still, she thought that Betty was worried about her, but she was rather anxious.
"You……were you looking at me like that?"
When asked so while suppressing her boiling anger, Betty countered as if she had something to say this time.
"Casey, you don't even remember what you did to me, do you?"
"What?"
"Look at that. That attitude. I think I'll go crazy because such a person suddenly closes her mouth."
From Betty's point of view, it would have been better if Casey had a fling as usual. She resented herself for adapting to such a weirdo, but what could she do?
She may think it's annoying, but at least she could think of her as her usual self.
"But Casey, who is so depressed, doesn't fit."
"……."
Casey's lips twitched at Betty's words. However, she soon nodded.
"I see. That wasn't like me."
Casey smirked at her remark and felt like her complicated head was getting clearer.
'What on earth was I so worried about? I just have to act like my usual self.'
When Casey's expression brightened, Betty was relieved by her appearance. After that, he suddenly felt uneasy.
'Wait. Did I press the wrong switch?'
Unfortunately, Betty's anxiety has become reality.
Casey stood up straight from her seat and began to cast a spell. The overflowing water moved the table and stuck it next to Rudger's table.
Looking back at Rudger and Selina who were wondering what was going on, Casey said brazenly.
"It's fate that we met like a whole lot, so let's sit together."
"……."
Ignoring the absurd gazes, Casey smiled and Betty shook her head when she saw it. Casey, who is now in that state, couldn't be stopped by anyone.
'I have no choice but to pray that this will end safely.'
* * *
'What's with her?'
Merylda, who was secretly watching the inside of the restaurant, was angry at the behavior of an uninvited guest who suddenly intervened.
'Selina's date!'
Looking at the uninvited guest, Merylda felt anxious.
She was pretty while her sky-blue like hair was also attractive and she also had a unique temperament.
In addition, the two seemed to have known each other for a long time from the way she talked to Rudger without hesitation and Rudger's behavior of accepting her words.
'Someone he knew appeared here. This will ruin Selina's date!'
Merylda agonized and thought about how to support Selina.
'No, it's too late to think about it now. This was Selina's first chance in a long time, and I can't let her ruin it.'
Merylda realized that she had to break into the scene herself and made up her mind but at the moment when she pulled herself away from the street lamp and approached the restaurant.
"Oh, my, Merylda!"
Merylda was startled when someone called her and when she turned her head, she saw a student with lemon-colored hair.
"……Excuse me, who are you?"
"Oh, you don't know. My name is Cheryl Wagner. I'm a second-year student at Theon."
"What brings you here?"
"My major is curses so I wanted to have a deep conversation with teacher Merylda at least once but I didn't expect to see you here!"
Of course, Cheryl didn't want to talk to Merylda because her major was not curses. However, he noticed that Merylda wanted to intervene in that situation and tried to stop her.
She didn't expect a blue-haired woman to break into that situation all of a sudden, but that was better for Cheryl.
If Selina and Rudger's date didn't go down like this, Flora would have a chance.
Merylda and Cheryl's eyes clashed in the air.
'She's trying to disturb me.'
'I'm sorry, but you have to stay still for Flora.'
Merylda and Cheryl were about to fight and Hans, who was secretly watching the two, was surprised by the unexpected situation.
'What's wrong with those two?'
Were they enemies?
Hans thought it was an opportunity since two people who are wary of each other are colliding, so he could send a signal to Rudger in this gap.
"I need your help."
Hans immediately called a mouse and handed it a note.
"Give this to brother."
The content of the note was a warning because a suspicious person was following him.
At first, he thought about calling a crow, but soon shook his head.
If he called a crow here, he would stand out. Rather, it was cleaner to have a mouse leave a note quietly.
'If it doesn't get caught, there won't be any damage to the restaurant.'
With that in mind, Hans sent a mouse to the restaurant. It was a simple matter since it just had to deliver a note anyway.
A mouse with a note in its mouth ran toward the restaurant through the crowd and, after a while.
"Kyyyaaaaaaa!!!"
A huge water blast erupted from one side of the restaurant.
"Huh…??"
Hans stared blankly at the scene.